Brent Venables expects playing at Nebraska to be a 'great challenge' for Oklahoma

Coming of age in the Midwest in the 1980s and 90s, Nebraska football was the gold standard for a young Brent Venables. The Cornhuskers, along with the team Venables currently coaches — the Oklahoma Sooners — were fixtures on TVs every weekend.

Nebraska and Oklahoma were, of course, conference opponents and bitter rivals then and until the Cornhuskers were bounced to the Big Ten. The rivalry remains and was recently renewed, and with the Sooners traveling to Lincoln this weekend after playing host in 2021, Venables expects an intense, challenging environment.

“But, really, again, Nebraska, I grew up on Nebraska football,” Venables said. “When I say Nebraska, that was, along with Oklahoma and a few others, those were the programs that were always on TV. Those were the programs that everybody strived to be like. So it’s going to be really exciting and a great, great challenge for us to go to Lincoln, go on the road in a tough environment. I’m really excited to see what our team’s all about. This will be a great opportunity for us to continue to grow and develop as a team.”

Nebraska is not on top of the college football mountain these days — firing head coach Scott Frost this week after a 1-2 start and 16-31 career record there — but a long-time rival coming in and the jolt of energy an interim might bring will certainly prime the Huskers to bring their best shot.

Either way, Venables knows Nebraska fans will show out.

“Well their fans are first class, you know? Every patch of grass in that stadium is going to be full,” Venables said. “You know, they’re some of the most loyal and intelligent fans in all of college football. They’re going to arrive early and stay late. No matter what, they’re going to be there for their team. A lot of pride in that community. One of the cleanest stadiums you’ll see anywhere. Wherever there’s concrete, you don’t see — there’s nothing. No debris. Nothing. That’s always stood out to me.”

Venables played Nebraska before, too, as a linebacker at Kansas State. Playing against them at their peak powers, the focus to try and beat them was on every day, Venables said, right down to a coaching staff full of now-legendary names.

“I grew up, as a player, in the late 80s and early 90s, and that was one of the best eras in Nebraska football history. And I remember at Kansas State, we would spend every single day working on Nebraska. Every day. Every single day. Bob Stoops, Jim Leavitt, Bill Snyder and that staff, they would be working on Nebraska every day,” Venables said.